Under the Dragon Wing
by shadowsteed
Summary: They say evil can never triumph over good, but sometimes, evil gains a powerful ally that can give hope even to the darkness. This story will bring you through the history of the third age of Middle-earth from a point of view of an unusual elf, one that will change the course of fate of everyone around her...


_Now this is a start of a new story featuring an idea I came up with after I watched the second Hobbit movie, mostly because I simply fell in love with the dragon Smaug. I have read what there is about the dragons in Middle-earth, and I am very sorry if what I will write will not fit the canon. Obviously it's gonna be a lot AU, but hopefully you will like the story. The fanfiction will connect and feature elements from books, movies, and even computer games, as the story will move throughout Middle-earth's history. So now, let's move the first chapter..._

**Under the Dragon Wing**

**Chapter 1.**

_**The ancient lore and legends tells us stories of creatures so powerful, that we hardly want to believe their existence, and yet they live, thriving in the shadows, just beneath the borders of our knowledge and our imagination...**_

It has been many years now, thousands of years since the Dark Lord, Sauron, was defeated, and the land has claimed the peace it so desperately needed. For these thousands of years, the free peoples of Middle-earth have lived their lives, evolved, and formed their history, spilling blood of their enemies in the process. The lands have seen many pointless, wasteful wars, and over the time, many has forgotten the darkness that still threatened this world, from under the protective cover of the world's ignorance.

It has been in here, in the great Greenwood forest this darkness has taken the strongest roots. Here, under the canopy of an endless sea of trees, where only the bravest dare to thread under the greatest need, many forms of evil have taken refuge. And it hasn't only been the spiders, those eight-legged devils that stalked on the land and though the trees for anything they could catch and feast on, but many other things, some that don't even have a name in the common tongue.

And yet, even in this dangerous, corrupted place, once so beautiful, now wicked and rotten, one ray of light shines upon it like a star on a dark, night sky. For even this dark forest is inhabited by elves, and though their efforts to maintain order within their borders have always been a seemingly worthless fight, the skill of these woodland warriors have always managed to prevail, and so the kingdom of Thanduil the king still stands as a sturdy oak in a strong wind.

But many things have been different. Over the hundred years, the wood elves isolated themselves from the rest of the world, even from the others of their kin, relying on their own powers only to survive. They have become a crude and unforgiving folk, distrustful towards all who ventured too far into their forest. From one side, they lived in the shadow of the forest, and from the other, the great looming shadow of the Lonely Mountain, and it's terrible guardian. It has been many years now since Smaug the Golden first swooped from the air upon the dwarven kingdom, and although the elves were hidden in their forest and so they weren't directly in the dragon's gaze, they too have suffered the consequences of his terrible wrath. And so it was their own misfortune that caused them to become the way they are. Still, there were exceptions...

_The western area of Mirkwood Forest, sometime in the afternoon..._

Swiftly and silently, a young elf's feet ran through the undergrowth. Long, brownish-golden hair flew through the air as she jumped across a fallen tree trunk, looking around herself with deep, blue eyes that seemed to glow slightly with their own light. It was indeed a wood elf, but what was she doing here alone was a mystery to everyone, even for her. She was a rather strange for a wood elf, or for an elf whatsoever, as everyone would tell you. Her name was Daenarien. Raised in the woodland realm, on king Thranduil's very court. About a hundred years ago, as a little baby, she was found on the king's doorstep. Fortunately for her the great elven king did not refuse to give her a home in his land. Some said that he had other reasons then a mere charity perhaps, but since that time, the little one was considered to be a wood elf, no matter that no one had any idea of her origins.

Now, after two hundred years, she has grown up to be a smart, and beautiful young elf, full of life and love for everything around her. She was one of Thranduil's favourite, but although she felt the gratitude she should towards the king, she never liked him very much. She was very different from the wood elves in the realm, at least most of them, for she loved the forest the way it was in the present, not the way it was in the past time. She has grown up in this dark forest, and although she knew the forest to be dangerous, she loved it.

She jumped on another fallen tree and sighed. She should have been back in the fortress for a while now, and yet she didn't want to leave just yet. There was something in the forest tonight, it felt more... alive then usual. As if something was going to happen. She jumped down on the ground, intending to head back, when she suddenly heard voices. She turned her head to listen better to the sound. There were several different voices, coming from the way of the old elven path. With quick, short strides, she moved towards their location, but still it took a few minutes to arrive there.

And so she was a little confused, when she didn't see anyone. The place was gravely silent, at first, but then she heard another voice, one she new very well. A deep, rambling voice, coming from somewhere deeper within the trees. She followed the sound and soon she stepped on a small clearing, where immediately she saw a few dead bodies of slain spiders, struck by arrows. She turned around when she heard the voice again and she saw the source of it. One spider still lived, lying on the ground, squirming in pain as an arrow was stuck in his side. It was a rather large spider, with dark, but slightly whiting hair on his body, speaking of his great age. Daenarien couldn't help but gasp as she saw him. She knew this spider, he came to this forest a few weeks back and was living here ever since.

"Aengnar," she whispered and the creature freezed for a moment, before he turned his head and his eyes fixed on the figure standing cautiously next to him. The young elf was not disgusted when she looked at the spider, she felt only pity, and out of instinct, she kneeled before the spider. She was fascinated by these creatures, they were scary, but somehow, strangely graceful in the way they moved. And for some strange reason, she could understand their language.

"Leave me be, elf, let me die here alone or kill me quickly." he spoke with a deep, resonating voice, clicking his mandibles furiously. She gently stroked one of his furry legs, and then she observed the arrow. It was an elvish made arrow and she looked at the spider, surprised how lucky the creature must have been, for her kin didn't usually missed the deadly blow. His side was pierced through and yet he still lived. She sighed, for she didn't want to cause him more pain but she knew it had to be done. She took one end of the arrow, and broke it, drawing a cry of agony from the wounded creature. The spider started lashing out at her with her jaws, but he was far too weak to hurt her. She waited for him to calm down and then she took the other part of the arrow and as smoothly and quickly as she could, she pulled it out. It that moment, the spiders body slumped to the ground and for a moment, she was worried, but then he opened his dark eyes again and he was staring at her with a strange look. She couldn't read the spider's expresion, if he even had something like that, but she didn't expected gratitude, she just wanted to make sure he would be alright. She looked around, and her eyes lightened as she saw what she was looking for. Taking a few leaves of a healing plant she pressed them to the spider's wound, bandaging it with a piece of her own shirt.

A few minutes later Daenarien was trotting back towards her home. She didn't waste any time when she learned about the dwarves. Soon after she tended to Aegnar's wound the old spider was able to stand on his legs, and he moved deeper into the forest to recover, but not before he told her of the dwarves they tried to kill and the elves they attacked them. She knew that by now the dwarves would probably be already in the dungeons deep within the elven fortress. She has never seen a dwarf before, and yet she felt bad for the thirteen who wondered into their forest. Determined to find out just what exactly was going on, she chose to return home as soon as possible.

As the gates of the elven kingdom opened before her, she immediately headed for the dungeons but was stopped on the steps by a familiar voice, calling her name. Turning around, she saw no other than the elven prince himself, Legolas, and she narrowed her eyes in slight anger before facing him, faking a smile. His eyes were filled with clear reproach.

"Where have you been, Daenarien? I thought you should have been back here before we even went on the hunt. Once again, you have disobeyed my father."

"Yeah, and what about it, my prince? If you want to go and tell your father, be my guest. Who am I to stop you?" she stopped, bravely staring right into his eyes. He was of course, the most beautiful elf in the whole kingdom, but it was unbearable how much he was like his father. So arrogant in his every way.

"You don't have to call me that and you know it, Daenarien. My father likes you, he treated you like one of his family. You should feel privileged, and yet you rebel all the time. The forest is a dangerous place for one so unexperienced such as you. It is unwise to be there alone for so long." he paused. "And if you're heading down there to see the... dwarves for yourself, I would advise you against it, there's nothing to see about them." Daenarien couldn't miss the disdain on his face when he spoke.

"I haven't seen a dwarf in my whole life, Legolas. Whatever I am going to see down there, it surely is going to be something." she said, and when she didn't hear another word from him, she simply walked the stairs down.

As soon as she reached the dungeons, and the narrow steps along the rocks, she slowed down and looked upon the cells. Immediately, her blue eyes widened in surprise as she beheld the creaters inside. But her suprise soon turned into a huge smile as she realised that these dwarves were nothing she imagined them to be. They looked like a folk she might love to be a friends with. She took a breath, still a little shy to actually talk to them, when she heard a voice.

"It appears, someone has seen a dwarf for the first time." she turned her head to look at the dwarf who spoke. "Am I right, lass?"

The moment she saw him, she knew she's going to like these dwarves. He was obviously the oldest of the group, with a long white beard on his chin, but his eyes were sparkling with life and spirit of a true warrior, and yet he had a friendly face she didn't imagine a dwarf could have.

"Indeed." she said, when she finally gained enough courage, and she stepped closer. "I am very young, for an elf. To tell the truth, you are nothing I imagined. I... I'm Daenarien."

"And you are clearly not supposed to be here." she gasped when she heard another familiar voice.

"Tauriel." she said, trying to sound calm. Tauriel was one of the few elves that she actually liked in this place. She had a good heart, too good to actually be a wood elf. She cared, not only for her own realm but for the rest of the world as well. Daenarien knew pretty well that Thranduil didn't give a damn about what will happen to the rest of the world, as long as his own would stay the same. It was one of the things she despised about him.

"I was just curious, Tauriel, that's not against the law."

"Yes, but as I was always telling you, your curiosity will get you into trouble one day."

"Perhaps it will. The more interesting my life will be."

"Where have you been this time? The king was furious when he learned that you weren't back when you were supposed to. He want's to talk to you now."

The blond immediately stopped paying attention to the dwarves and turned to the red-haired elf. "Oh, what foul news do you bear." she said with a hint of humour in her voice. "Then I shall attend to the kings wishes immediately." she nearly snapped as she pushed her way around the other elf, and rushed to the kings chambers.

_The throne hall of king Thranduil, late evening..._

"You obviously still need to learn what the word orders means." As soon as the zoung elf stepped on the last step leading to the throne, she was greeted by the cold, voice of the king. His voice was filled with anger he was deeply trying to hide, and it was making her nervous.

"My king, I assure you, I know what the word means very well, I just simply forgot about the time..."

He stopped her with a raised hand and turned to her sharply. "Precisely. And that is your problem, Daenarien. You are too careless, and I cannot watch over you when you are not here."

He gently, but firmly grabbed her shoulders. "Don't you realise how dangerous the forest is outside our borders? You are still but a child, why do you give up the protection of this place?"

"My king, I do realise the danger, but you are wrong in one thing. I might be still young, but I'm no longer a child. I can take care of myself." she said, and she backed from him, and then she lowered her head. "But maybe your right. Perhaps I am indeed too reckless. I promise you that from tomorrow, you won't have a problem with me anymore."

The king studied her face for a while, but he seemed satisfied with her words and the sad tone in her voice. When he finally let her go, Daenarien made sure she was far enough from the king as she could, and then she roared in silent wrath.

She wished someone in this realm would stop being such a hypocrite to actually see who their king actually was. Or perhaps she just needed at least one elf who would actually care about her. Surely living in this place have granted her some protection against the bigger dangers of the forest. But this place was also a golden cage she hated more than anything else. What elves could live forever hiding under the ground in the dark?

Sure, the king provided her with everything she wanted, but it almost seemed like she was some kind of a tresure he didn't want to let out of his sight. It didn't occur to her first, but in time, she realised, that he never intended to let her leave the fortress in the first place. He did, at the end, but it took her months to persuade him to do that. And even then, she never had the freedom she wanted, for she was never allowed to go in the forest alone. Always accompanied by at least another elf, and never behind the borders of the woodland realm. It took years to finally gain permission to go alone, many efforts and promises from her side. That was the first time she ventured beyond the elven borders. There, she found many different things she has never seen before. And the giant spiders were only one of those things.

While Tauriel was always desperate from the fact that the spider were present in the forests, Daenarien always considered them to be a part of the forest like everything else. The first time she saw them, she just stood there standing in awe, and then, suddenly, it happened. She heard them. Each and every one of those spiders had a voice on their own. At first she was quite excited by this, but then she realised that she was probably the only elf who had the ability to undestand their speech. It was rather unnerving, and she was wondering why exactly was she so different, until she suddenly realised she could no longer hear the rustling of the spider's legs in the trees. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that the spiders have seen her and that they now slowly descended to do ground, enclosing her. Just then however, it was her strange new ability that saved her life.

"Stand still, little fly, so I can sting you a little." she heard a deep voice, and with a gasp, she turned around, and stood face to face with a great black spider. As she looked in his dark eyes, he opened his mouth and hissed in a loud, terrifying noice, and she backed away, only to collide with more hairy spider heads. They were all clicking their mandibles ferouciously, awaiting their meal, and she knew she had to act quickly.

"Stupid, little elf. She will be delicious." One of the smalled spiders squeled in delight. She turned around to look straight at him. "No, wait, please." she said, and all the clicking suddenly stopped. Then, all the spiders started making a very weird, rumbling noice. It took a while for Daenarien to understand that it was actually a laugh. Those spiders were laughing at her. She knew in that moment that she was very stupid coming here alone. But when the giant spider suddenly advanced on her, the sharp, big sting under his belly pointed at her, dripping with venom, something suddenly happened. She took out her bow, although she knew it probably wasn't going to be much help to her with so many spiders, when something started to happen. Her hand suddenly started to get unnaturaly warm, and then, it burst into fire. It looked like her hand was burning, but in didn't hurt at all. She remembered the spiders, and she looked around. They were still there, looking at her, obviously terrified, and she decided to try something. She raised the hand a little and made a throwing movement towards the spiders, and she was awed as some of the fire in her hand flew towards the creatures and exploded on the ground. The giant spider hissed on her in anger, but then, he and the other have skittered back into the trees in fear of the fire. She then raced back home with enough adventure in her mind for today. She never told anyone about this first adventure in the forest.

And so this was the first time she met the giant spiders, and the first she uncovered her skills as a lore-master. From that day, she trained her skills secretly whenever she went into the forest. She didn't know why she never told anyone about this, but for some reason, she had a feeling that the king would not like it. She didn't know about anz lore-masters among the wood elves, but she heard that there were such elves beyond the Misty Mountains, in the hidden valley of Imladris, or Rivendell. Not many times did she have the opportunity to hear tales about the place, but when she did, it always made her sad. Many times she wished that whoever left her on Thranduil's doorstep would rather choose to leave her in Rivendell, for she knew that she would be much happier there.

She was suddenly torn from her musing by a sudden noice. It almost sounded like... footsteps. Careful, slow footsteps of a rather small feet, which was weird, for although it seemed the sound was rather close, she didn't see anyone in the corridor. And yet she was fairly certain the footsteps were coming from the passage leading to the dungeons. Hesitating for a moment, she decided to follow downstairs.

Quiently, she moved down the stairs to the cells, when she suddenly heard voices, loud voices. She frowned as she carefully glanced around the corner, and her eyes widened a little, as she saw the dwarves free out of the cells, stretching their legs. She shook her head and slowly stepped out of the shadow.

"Seriously, if your planning an escape, you should at least consider being a little more silent, that would surely help a lot." she said, but then she suddenly stopped, blinking, as she saw something, a creature that definitely wasn't a dwarf. She, of course, couldn't know that what was she looking at was a hobbit, for she has never even heard of these creatures before. Still, as she watched the strange being in front of her, her surprised expresion quickly turned into a smile, as she realised that he probably wasn't a threat. Still, the dwarves didn't give her the opportunity to make an acquaintance.

"I thought you'll be all in that fancy party of yours upstairs." she raised her head as she heard a deep, peervish voice. It belonged to a dwarf she didn't notice before, and as she looked at him, it was a dwarf that really caught her attention. He seemed different from the others, all of those dwarves were stripped of their weapons and armour, and yet this perticular dwarf seemed to emanate authority.

"I'm not very fond of parties." she said, and then she stopped again, as she noticed the bunch of keys in the hobbit's hand. "Good work." she said, and bowed her head in appreaciation.

"That was nothing. The guards seemed to be a little... preoccupied in the wine cellar."

Her brows immediately shot up on that remark, and then, as silently as she could, she laughed. But then she caught the looks in the eyes of the dwarves, and she sighed. "There is no possible way for you to get out of here unnoticed. This place is full of guards, especially now. Dark times are coming, even to our own lands. But, I don't want to see you rot in this place, like me, for I sense that you have gone through many terrible ordeals already." she paused for a while, thinking. "There might be a way, it's not gonna be pleasant for you, but it's probably the only way besides making your way through our archers."

_The western shores of the Esgaroth lake, the late morning..._

Daenarien was farely sure that the dwarves have indeed passed this way, but here their tracks were suddenly lost. Tracking them was not as easy as she thought, but along the river she managed to follow them until here. She wished they would let her go with them though. She knew it was out of the question before she even asked, but when she saw them running away, when she saw them defying Thranduil so openly, she desperately wanted to join them. Alas, it was unthinkable for these dwarves to take an elf along with them on their quest, whatever it was. And they were not gentle in telling her so either, except for the one named Balin perhaps. At first she was angry, and dissapointed that she was forced to stay behind, but once they were gone she managed to vanish, pretending that she wasn't even there, and she joined the other elven hunters in the search of the dwarves, in hope that she will at least know for sure that they went the way they were supposed too. That was when the orcs suddenly attacked. It was a fierce, and unexpected attack. While the dwarves made their way down the river, the river bank was crawling with orcs hunting the dwarf, and elves hunting the orcs. Using her own bow and arrows, Daenarien fought side by side with Tauriel and Legolas. Those two were much better fighters then she was, but it was also them who taught her how to fight. She never wanted them as teachers, but it was Thranduil's will.

She watched in awe as the prince expertly handled the endless orc army. As she shot down another orc, she groaned in annoyance as she heard his signal to retreat.

"Daenarien! This is as far as we'll be going. We have one of them alive. We're going back."

She was standing on a rock, watching as the silhuettes of the dwarves in the water and their hunters on the land were becomming more distant. "Daenarien!" the elven prince called again, but this time, she has already made a decision. She turned her head towards him, and for a few seconds, the two elves stared at each other. Then, just as Legolas took off running towars the rock to stop her, she jumped in the river, and in a minute, she was carried by the swift current closer and closer towards her destiny...


End file.
